A small-scale testing setup was developed and built to test
simultaneously eight 400 mm x 400 mm specimens. The wall
composition is typical for North American low-rise residences,
insulated with fiberglass insulation between the studs. A typical
cross-section is given in Figure 1. An air cavity is present
between the brick veneer and the back wall. An exterior sheathing
of oriented-strand board (OSB) is used. Two types of
weather resistive barriers (WRB) on the OSB are considered:
spun-bonded polyolefin (SBPO) and building paper (BP). On
the gypsum board, two different finishings are used: a two-layer
acrylic paint and a vinyl wall covering (VWC).
The indoor and outdoor conditions aim at representing
summer conditions in Charleston, South Carolina, including
solar radiation on the outside cladding and conditioned air at
the indoor side.